During this week's official debut of Australian Green Opal and our
showcase of all things Silicate, it seems the time is right to share
some fun facts, fictions, and historical tidbits (mostly morbid) tied to
the stone.

It's worth noting that most of this lore
is associated with precious opals (you know, the ones with fire, and
flash, and play of color, and fancy names for patterns?). That being
said, we'd be doing our education a grave disservice if we didn't dip
our toes into the topic.

An FYI - Precious vs. CommonThere
are two categories for Opal - Precious and Common. Precious Opals
(think Black Opal, Ethiopian, Fire Opal) exhibit the characteristics
most associate with Opal. Thee term "Common" Opal is a bit of a
disservice, for example, high quality Blue Peruvian Opal can command
quite a price in its own right, although it isn't a "Precious" Opal. All
Opals have a Silicate mineral structure which makes them much less
dense, and also much softer than most other stone types. Common or
Precious, be gentle with your Opals.

Unlucky?

Perhaps the most widely known piece of Opal mythology has to do with Opals being bad luck. Let's break it down. Bad Luck for JewelersThis
probably has more to do with the fragile nature of the stone. Whether a
lapidarist or a jeweler, you'll need to handle an opal with
considerably more care, than, say, a diamond. King Louis VI was not very
sympathetic to a goldsmith who fractured a stone while setting it, and
the unfortunate goldsmith lost his hands. (Warned you, morbid.) This is
arguably the only myth with any facts to back it up.

Bad Luck for Venice

When
the plague hit Venice in the 14th century, rumors abounded that an opal
worn by a plague patient would flame as their illness raged and then
lose all color at the time of death. It's worth noting that the
desperate Venetians also blamed heretics and Jews for the illness as
well.Science has since given us a little more information on bacteria
and disease transmission, and it seems safe to say that Opals had as
much causal link to plague as Jews and heretics, which is to say, none.

A
single Opal ring was reputed to kill five members of the Spanish royal
family by means of a mysterious illness. While the ring in question was a
gift from the jilted lover of King Alfonzo to his bride, historians
believe that the deaths had nothing to do with the ring being poisoned,
cursed, or just generally bad luck. Cholera was running through the
country at the time and some estimates have the death at 50% of the
Spanish population. Scholar Isidore Kozminsky acknowledges that metal
and stone can attract and retain energies that harmed those who received
it from his hand.

Bad Luck BirthstoneThe
"bad luck birthstone" was born of a novel written by Sir Walter
Scott - there was a reading comprehension issue and the mis-reading of
the novel is a fun story in its own right, as well as a powerful
testimony to the power of the pen, In a single year, the market
price for Opals dropped by half, and the market suffered for decades.

Bad, Bad, BadWhen
incredible Opals were discovered in Australia in the 1890's, it's
widely accepted that diamond traders perpetuated myths, rumors and
falsehoods about the stone in order to protect their livelihood. Queen
Victoria amassed and paraded a stunning personal collection of Opal
Jewelry, and was likely the greatest contributing factor to the Opal's
return to fashion and favor.

But it's not ALL BadIn
1922, Isidore Kozminsky's book "The Magic and Science of Jewels and
Stones", the author discussed powerful positive anecdotes related to the
stone, and claims that the Opal has been among the most unfairly
maligned in history.

WOW. So, this blog got long.
We'll have to do a Part 2 on this sometime in the future. I'm planning
to track down Kozminsky's text, so hopefully I can bring you some more
gems in the future!